by Lily Zante
The short summer romance that she and Nico had shared, was what she had penned all her hopes and dreams on.
For Nico, Silvia had been a comfortable presence, someone he had known since childhood. The news of his mother’s illness, just then diagnosed, had been hard to bear. And Silvia, whom his mother had adored, had become close to Nico and had helped him to deal with the soul destroying news that his mother was terminal.
A few of those comforting nights had led to other things. Shortly afterwards, Silvia announced that she was pregnant with his child. Throughout the years Nico had strenuously denied this accusation. He chose to ignore it because he knew the depths of Silvia’s deceit and knew that she would use anything to get close to him.
She had loved Nico since they were teenagers but he didn’t feel the same way about her. It wasn’t that she was after his money, for she was rich enough in her own right, but she wanted what most other eligible young women in Verona wanted: Nico.
For years Silvia had insisted on it and for years Nico had ignored it. But now that Alessa had turned five, she was starting to ask where her father was.
And although Nico’s father had never pressed for a definite resolution of the matter, Nico knew his father believed the rumors, for he had no reason not to. The time had now come, that Nico had had enough and wanted to prove that he was not Alessa’s father. He didn’t want Alessa to start believing her mother’s rumors. Nico saw that the child was starting to warm towards him, genuinely believing that he was her father. It was more for Alessa than anything else, that Nico felt the time had now come to resolve this matter for one and for all.
“Are you sure your parents did not want to know about this Silvia?” asked Mr. Cazale carefully. He sincerely wished that the results of the blood test would show once and for all that Nico was the father of the child. He was getting on in years and seeing his wife go so quickly before him made him feel more unsettled about his own life. He knew life was fleeting and he didn’t know whether he would wake up to see another day. He couldn’t see Nico settling down anytime soon. So if Alessa was his grandchild at least she was here.
Once again, he slowly asked Silvia, “This is a big decision here Silvia. Are you sure you don’t want your parents to be here? I can get my driver to fetch them. There is no need to rush.” He was kind and gentle with her. He didn’t understand why Nico was so hostile towards Silvia, more now than ever.
“Papa just get the thing over and done with, please.” Nico paced the room, his hands clenched so tightly that the bony knuckles protruded clearly.
In contrast, Silvia lounged around on the warm, leather sofa with one leg crossed over the other and an arm resting lazily on the armrest.
“Are you ready darling?” she said, watching Nico with cool calculating eyes, “You should relax. There’s no need to worry about anything.”
“We’ll see,” replied Nico savagely. He had been so sure that he wasn’t the father, so sure that in the five years past he had never put any more thought into Silvia’s constant whines and accusations. He had been glad that his mother hadn’t heard any of these. If there was one saving grace about Silvia it was that she had never caused any undue stress to his ill mother.
“You seem so sure Nico. We’ll find out now won’t we?” she challenged him, daring him to meet her eyes but he kept his gaze firmly on the floor.
The test had been carried out a few days ago at the private clinic when Nico had met Silvia and Alessa early in the morning. With both of them being from such prominent families it was something that both families wanted kept out of the public eye.
Now that the moment was finally here, Nico felt unsure for the first time ever, and started having doubts. Beads of sweat began to seep out on his forehead. He undid the buttons of his shirt and loosened his tie. Then he took off his jacket and he could feel Silvia’s hungry, ice-blue eyes on him. He glanced at her, knowing she was staring at him, at his muscular body and thinking that any minute now, she would have some sort of legal claim over him.
The large grandfather clock in his father’s study struck four and the three of them waited patiently.
This was agony for Nico. He stood with his arms folded across his chest. The sudden knock at the door broke the painful monotony of silence in the room.
It was the family doctor, the only man that Mr. Cazale trusted enough to deal with such a delicate matter. Like Mr. Cazale, he was an elderly man and the two of them had known each other since college.
“We have the result, Edmondo,” he said, in a firm voice and handed the letter over to Mr. Cazale Senior.
“Thank you Geraldino. Go ahead, you open it,” said Nico’s father. He pushed the letter back into the Doctor’s hands.
They stared at the Doctor’s face in order to glean a clue as to the outcome. Silvia slowly sat upright in the armchair then leant forward, placing her elbows on her knees. Nico had uncrossed his arms and took a step towards the Doctor. Only Mr. Cazale Senior stayed calm and sat just as he had in his armchair.
Knowing that everyone’s eyes were on him the doctor started, in a faltering voice.
“The results of the test prove without a shadow of a doubt,” he looked over at Nico firmly, “that Nico Cazale is not the father of Alessa Azzarone.” He handed the letter over to Nico who sprang forward with joy, struggling to contain the enormous surge of relief he felt rising up in his chest. He took the letter gratefully and read it once, then read it a second time before walking over to Silvia victoriously.
“Here you go Silvia. All the proof you need.” He handed her the letter but she had relaxed back on the sofa, legs still crossed with her arm resting back on the armrest. Nico could tell from the tight frown on her face that she was not at all happy but the elation in his own heart exploded and drowned out the heaviness he had felt since he had walked into this office.
The Doctor took his leave and soon it was just the three of them left in the study.
Seeing that Silvia refused to take the letter, Nico handed it to his father.
“Don’t you want to know who the father is then?” she asked, not caring that Mr. Cazale Senior was sitting across from her reading the letter. The old man took off his glasses and looked across at her, with a sympathetic look on his face.
“You knew it wasn’t Nico, Silvia?” he asked with mild surprise. But Silvia ignored him. And when Nico still didn’t reply, she asked again, this time her tone more menacing. “Don’t you want to know Nico?” she repeated.
Nico turned around to face her. “No, I couldn’t care less. I only care that you look after Alessa. She is a beautiful, innocent little girl who deserves to be loved. I do love her; whether she is my child or not. It’s her that I care for and love Silvia, not you.”
With five years of constantly being told that he was the father, there had been moments when Nico had stopped to wonder if perhaps there might have been a mistake. Five years of not knowing had made him sometimes wonder if the endearing little child was his. And five years of wondering had given him and Alessa a little bond, as tiny as it was, that had blossomed into a fulsome love for the child, as if she was his.
Silvia got up stiffly and grabbed her bag. “Goodbye Mr. Cazale,” she said as she swept out of the room.
Chapter 18
The older man sank back into his chair in the silence that followed.
“Are you disappointed Papa?” Nico asked tenderly. He saw his father take off his reading glasses and he saw only tiredness and sadness in his eyes. He had an uncomfortable feeling that this might not have been the result his father had hoped for.
“I have lived to see many things Nico,” his father said wearily, “but up until now, I didn’t think I would see such a display of cold cunning as I have seen with Silvia. I was disappointed. But frankly, seeing that she already knew, I’m relieved.”
“Relieved?”
“Relieved for you Nico. The last thing I would have wanted is for you to be stuck with a woman such as her.”
“I’ve had the love of a good woman, a great woman for more than fifty years of my life. I’ve been lucky, more than that, I’ve been blessed. Naturally I want the same for you, as any parent would. All parents want the best for their children. I know you and your mother paid a price waiting for me in Montagnano but I wanted to provide a great life for you both. I had to work hard to get that.”
Nico pressed his fingers against the edges of his eyelids. They were heavy but his heart was light. The immense feeling of relief overwhelmed him and now his father was sitting with him, and they were talking, not as men fighting to prove themselves, but as equals, Nico felt. Although he didn’t say it in as many words, Nico could see that his father was no longer angry with him.
“I’m sorry that I put you through all of this Papa,” said Nico.
“No Nico. I’m sorry I put you through the test Nico. It was a part of my deal although I never told you.”
“What are you talking about Papa?” asked Nico nervously.
“When I gave you two years to prove yourself, I wanted to know if you had a passion for the business as I do. But I also wanted you to take responsibility and to own up to your responsibilities no matter what. I gave you two years to prove yourself and I know you’ve been working hard, working flat out trying to pull things together with the hotel, always testing new things. I know the time pressure was resting heavily on you.”
“That’s fine Papa, but what has that got to do with the paternity test?” There was confusion on Nico’s face.
“I gave you two years to prove to me that you had a passion for the hotel business and to show me that you had had changed from the lothario you used to be. But as important as your business knowledge and ambition, I wanted also to see that you were responsible and willing to own up to your responsibilities no matter how heavy they were. I know we never discussed it much, but, as I mentioned before, there had always been these rumors, about who was Alessa’s father. By taking the blood test, which could have gone either way, you showed me that you were ready to accept the responsibility. And that Nico, is what I have been waiting to see.”
“Why didn’t you make it a condition of your test?” he asked.
“Because I can’t ask you to become responsible. I needed to see that it was something you were ready for. And you have shown me now that you are. Your reputation before, when your mother was alive, was that of a playboy. I couldn’t hand over my hotel empire to a playboy.”
“I stopped being a playboy years ago Papa. Mama’s death made me grow up,” said Nico quietly. “I’ve always known Alessa wasn’t mine. Always. Though I admit, for a few minutes there I was worried, life has a way of throwing curve balls at you when you least expect it.”
“Why so sure Nico?” asked the old man curiously, sliding his glasses back onto his face and examining Nico’s face with interest.
“I was always careful. You always told me to be careful. Very careful. Silvia knew I was careful, knew I took precautions. I think over the years, she forgot that and became so determined to wanting to believe that the child could be mine somehow. She was desperate for it to be so.”
The old man shook his head. “She is desperate. That much I can see now, all too clearly.” He folded the letter and handed it over to Nico. “But tell me Nico, why go through the farce of agreeing to the blood test at all, if you knew for sure?”
Nico looked at his father with a steadfast gaze. “Would you have believed me otherwise?”
The silence hung in the air like a cobweb. Only the sound of the grandfather clock striking five broke the spell.
“I see that I’ve been very harsh on you Nico. I’m sorry. But I can see now that you’ve changed. You had started to change, once your mother passed away. Sometimes it takes these hard lessons in life to make us stop and accept our responsibilities.”
Not wanting to let his father take the burden of the guilt Nico added, “It wasn’t just that Papa. I wanted Silvia to know for sure once and for all. I don’t want to have those rumors hanging around my head, following me with my every move. Her father was very anxious for us to get together.”
“I know. I know. The Azzarones are a very rich family but theirs is all inherited from many generations of their family. Silvia’s father didn’t work hard, not like I did. He didn’t have to suffer the hardship, the regret of sending his wife and only child away while he built up his business.”
Nico nodded his head in agreement. His father had indeed worked very hard during the early years. And only now, now that his father was telling him, did it occur to Nico that his father had loved and missed him very much while he was growing up, living in the village with his grandmother and mother.
Now, finally, Nico understood the old man’s relentless need for Nico to prove himself. Now, he finally saw why his father kept the meetings with all the other people interested in his empire. He wanted to see what Nico could do, and Nico had needed to prove himself and that had meant showing he had the guts to take on responsibility, with Alessa, had it come to that.
“You have turned out to be the son and the man your mother and I wanted. You’ve shown me that you have compassion, empathy and responsibility. You’ve always known that Alessa wasn’t yours and yet you always treated that child with love and understanding whenever you saw her. And now I see you tolerated her mother when it must have been so hard for you knowing that she was making all these accusations and everyone else must thought you were nothing but a spoilt rich brat.”
Nico said nothing.
“So.” His father said, in a more sterner voice, not wishing to dwell too much on these emotional issues. “I told the Luxuriant group that I had considered their offer in line with the offers from all the other interested parties and that I was no longer interested.”
Nico’s eyes widened and he sat up to attention. He felt a surge of excitement beginning to flow through his veins.
“I feel you’re coming on, getting a good grasp for the business. You’re taking it to the next level; more luxury and moving upmarket. I never did understand why the bed linen had to be a thousand thread count or above, or why it had to be Egyptian cotton when our own Italian cotton is good enough but the new guest book and online review system seem to show me otherwise. Gina tells me that people have been commenting on the smallest of things and these are the details that they remember.”
“So you approve?” Nico asked, eagerly.
His father cleared his throat. “The results indicate that you are doing the right things.” Nico smiled at his father’s inability to give a simple and clear “Yes.”
“Let’s take it slowly. But I don’t think I need to have other companies thinking that our empire is for the taking anymore. I think the Cazale’s are quite capable of running their chain of hotels very well.”
“And maybe expanding out, slowly?”
His father looked up and nodded.
“I mean,” said Nico with a hint of carefulness, “We’ll start out slowly. Acquiring only the most fabulous hotels in the yet undiscovered parts of Italy.”
His father put his fingers together and rested his chin on them. “I like the sound of that very much Nico.”
The two men sat, with a mutual understanding and a new phase in their relationship achieved.
“One last thing, Nico. No pressure or anything but maybe, before I grow exceptionally old and unable to see, we might find you settling down someday too? I quite like the idea of gardening with my grandchildren.” The old man smiled, a warm, comfortable smile.
Nico got up and shook his father’s hand. Then clasped him tightly by the arm, and hugged him.
“One thing at a time Papa,” he replied, a small smile playing on lips.
By the time Nico came out of his father’s office, Gina was waiting for him at the ma
in reception desk. Silvia had left with Alessa as soon as she had left the meeting.
Gina wore a worried frown but Nico only had thoughts for Ava.
“What’s the matter?” he asked, his mind on Ava and what to do next.
“We’ve had a problem with the electrics in the kitchen. The chefs complained of it over a week ago and I thought Alphonso was looking at it.” Predicting the obvious, Nico said, “But he didn’t?”
Gina shook her head. “And now there is no hot water or electricity in the kitchen. Which means we are not going to be able to get dinner ready for this evening unless we get it fixed immediately.”
Nico frowned. Lately that old hotel manager, Alphonso, had started to forget a lot of things. He wasn’t good at leading by example and forgetting small things, soon escalated to bigger problems, as was the case so clearly now.
“But hasn’t he been off sick?” asked Nico.
“He was, but he came back today.”
“So where is he now?” asked Nico sourly. He really had no time to be looking at this. He needed to see Ava.
“He headed home around two o’clock saying he didn’t think he had fully recovered. Shall I call him back?” asked Gina.
Nico inhaled sharply. “No,” he said, flicking through the sheaf of papers that Gina had passed him. “Let’s leave Alphonso right out of the picture. He’s done enough damage for now,” Nico muttered as he quickly scanned through the paperwork which contained the invoices from when the kitchen was first installed. He raised a hand automatically towards the phone. He had the number of the man who had done the first installation.
Gina stopped him. “They’ve folded,” she said, moving his hand away. “I rang them and they are no longer in business. The place is now a pizzeria believe it or not. Anyway, I took the liberty of getting a few quotes from some of the electricians around here. Three of them are arriving to give me a free quote.”
Nico stood back, one arm across his chest with the elbow of the other one resting on it. He cupped his chin with his hand. “It seems to me Gina, as though you don’t need to ask me anything. You’ve taken care of it. I’ll leave it in your capable hands.”